THE Astrodome was once considered the eight wonder of the world, but now it sits abandoned.
“Do not enter” signs cover the property surrounding the Astrodome as debates rage about what to do with the stadium.
GettyThe Astrodome lays vacant next to the Houston Texans’ NRG Stadium[/caption] APThe Astrodome formerly housed the Houston Astros, Oilers, and the Rodeo[/caption] GettyThere are now debates on what to do with the stadium that has been vacant for 20 years[/caption]The Astrodome was last used 20 years ago, but has since been converted into a storage unit for the other properties in NRG Park in Houston.
There are debates over whether or not to invest in the stadium’s restoration, leave it abandoned, or to knock it down.
Harris County owns NRG Park and has the power to decide what happens to the Astrodome.
However, the current tenants of NRG Park, the Houston Texans and the Rodeo, are set to negotiate a new lease agreement that will give them more control of the park.
That means they could decide the fate of the Astrodome in the future.
The biggest issue is that no one wants their name attached to the death of the Astrodome.
“No elected official wants the Astrodome’s blood on their hands,” Beth Wiedower Jackson, the executive director of the Astrodome Conservancy, told the Houston Chronicle.
“But the flip side of that coin is nobody wants to piss off the Rodeo or the Texans.
“It’s still very fresh in everyone’s memory — Bud Adams and the [Houston] Oilers leaving town.”
The Astrodome was once a marvel of American engineering.
When it was constructed in 1965, it was the first domed air-conditioned stadium in the US.
It cost $35 million to construct ($380 million adjusted to inflation).
The Astrodome was the home of the Houston Astros for 34 years, the Oilers for 28 years, and the Rodeo for 36 years.
It also served as the home of Roy Hofheinz, the main driver of the project.
The Astrodome quickly fell into irrelevance in the late 1990s though.
GettyThe Astrodome was once labeled as the eight wonder of the world[/caption] AlamyThe Astrodome hasn’t been used since the early 2000s[/caption]The Oilers left for Nashville to become the Tennessee Titans in 1996 when the team couldn’t reach an agreement on a new stadium.
The Astros left in 1999 for Minute Maid Park, now Daikin Park, as the Astrodome was becoming outdated.
The Rodeo finally left in 2002 after NRG Stadium was built for the Houston Texans.
The Astrodome last held people in 2005 when 25,000 people evacuated from Hurricane Katrina.
There is no telling what will happen to the stadium in the future, but it is sad to see a former American icon laying vacant when so much history was made inside of it.
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